'I have no book of prayers, and I
don't know what prayer to use. Can you, revered Swamiji, give a prayer for
use?'

Answer:

Pray from the heart. Your heart's
prayer is the best prayer. Let your heart voice thus: 'Lord, You are now
with me, yet I am unable to see you. Grant me Grace, empower me to behold
You. You are my Light. You are my Father. You are my eternal Mother. You
are the Breath of my breath. You are everything. From all sides, at all
times, You are watching me, seeing me, blessing me. You are in the
children, in the creatures great and small. You are everywhere. Why don't
You reveal Yourself to me?

'Lord, lead me, guide me, purify
me, render me peaceful, wise, strong, noble, saintly. As You are in me,
express Yourself through me. Let me be a channel for the flow of Your
Nature and Qualities. Not my personality, but Your Personality which is
full of Perfection, finds Its expression through me. I don't want my will
to be done, for my will is imperfect, exposed to wrong impulse, full of
limitations. Thy Will is wonderful, perfect, omnipotent. Let Thy Will be
done through me.

'Lord, my intelligence makes many
mistakes. What it thinks to be the right thing is often to be not so. Let
Thy Intelligence which is omniscient guide my intelligence along the right
and fruitful lines. My heart is limited in its love; sometimes I love
people who are beneficial to me, and cease loving them when they no more
serve my interests. Let Thy Love which is unconditioned rule my heart. My
best plans to protect my interests are not free from unforeseen
difficulties. Anything can easily burden me with cares and worries. Let
Thy Wisdom, Thy Light, Thy Care, Thy Grace, conduct my life and preserve
me in the experience of Thy Peace, Thy Power, Thy Happiness.

'Look, O Lord, there Your sun
shines. Adorations to You, God, in that sunshine. Adorations to You, God,
in the form of all these men, women and children. Adorations to You in the
form of all those that are near and dear to me. Adorations to You, God, in
the form of all that is wonderful, great, grand, sublime, inspiring,
sustaining, helping, guiding. Adorations to You, God, in the form of the
breath without which I cannot live.'

Thus, through such small attempts
at pouring out your heart in spontaneous prayer, put yourself in touch
with the Lord's abundance, here, there, everywhere, at all times. Nothing
that you say to God is uttered in vain, for He is all-hearing and infinite
creative Intelligence, Power, Grace, Fullness. Many are the blessings of
such a prayer. The psychological, emotional, psychic, spiritual, material,
physical results of such prayers are priceless, and they add rapidly and
immensely to the stature of your inner spiritual growth and evolution.

Their hearts flower and bloom in
love to such an extent that they begin to converse with birds like St.
Francis. They begin to speak words of wisdom and power. Their lives are
most fruitful. Their presence is a joy and a healing, a blessing and an
enrichment. They are the real knowers of the meaning of life: they are the
real enjoyers of the full value of life.

The human eyes and the
intelligence which sees through them are not able to see God, but God is
seeing us all right. The human ears are not able to hear God, but God is
hearing us all right. The human heart feels God is somewhere away in the
clouds, but God is already there within its own inner chambers. When
intelligence is rendered pure and luminous, and lit up with the light of
the inner divine Being, man sees God as our physical eyes see the sun, the
moon, the trees, the seas, the light. These are the wonderful truths that
you discover as your entire inner nature is uplifted and refined. The
knowledge of the fundamental spiritual truths and realities comes to you
automatically. The language of God is the same everywhere.

Go on developing your love for
the Divine. When you see beautiful fruits and flowers, mentally offer them
to God, the supreme Creator, who is everywhere and watching everything.
And then, what happens? God, who is all-seeing, at once watches, registers
and responds to your simple act. In consequence His Light and Grace shine
upon your countenance. He increases your inner purity, your inner peace,
strength, happiness, and your prosperity. He develops your faith,
heightens your capacities, and renders your intelligence intuitive, your
soul inspired. He increases your sense of the divine Presence. He makes
you do good things. He prompts you to give a contribution to good works.
He inspires you to serve and to sacrifice. As you advance, God pours His
own Light, Love, Grace, through you to all creation.

As a result of this turn towards
the all-seeing, all-beautiful, all-peaceful, all-luminous, all-perfect
Divinity, many of the higher qualities resident in our inner spiritual
being are simultaneously unfolded into our outer life.